I have several flint and caplock Hawkens in .45, .50 and .54 calibers. I spent the afternoon today in my den checking them all out and wiping the bores and exterior metal. In each patch box on the butt stock I put a spare flint, flint leather and patch puller in the flintlocks and the caplocks have a spare nipple and a patch puller.

I have a possibles bag set up for each arm. In a 35MM film container are 7 or 8 balls and 9 greased patches along with a short starter, powder measure, finish nail for replacing flints and a nipple wrench for caplocks. When I go afield, all I need to add is a dozen or so nickel coin wrappers containing pre-measured charges in a sandwich bag, a capper ,or pan primer, and I am ready to whistle up old dawg and grab a muzzleloader.

I have obtained many leather purses at yard sales for a buck, or less, that are far superior to the $50 "plain jane" possibles bags seen in gun shops. On the shoulder straps I mounted a patch knife that reposes handily above my sternum when wearing the possibles bag.

Our spring gobbler season opens April 30 in PA. I have a single barrel 12 gauge barrel that fits the Hawken well. There are various fiber or card wads suitable for the ML shotgun. One of the best is the regular 12 gauge plastic wads used for smokeless shotgun trap loads accompanied by a fiber top wad.

Hawkens are fun farm guns all year round. I cast all my roundballs, Maxis and Minis out of pure lead by the bucketful.